Archive for
April 11th, 2010

The election for California’s next Governor hasn’t even begun in earnest yet and already Attorney General Edmund “Jerry” Brown can’t take the heat.

Last week the California Chamber of Commerce pulled a hard-hitting television attack ad against Brown. The ad was pulled after pressure from Brown and his wife was brought to bear on chamber board members.

The special election to determine who will fill the State Senate seat vacated by now Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit.

With nothing in politics ever being concrete it looks like Former State Assemblyman Russ Bogh will be the likely victor Tuesday night. I’ve none Bill Emmerson since his first run for the Assembly seat he now holds. He’s a good person.

I really need to stop reading former San Bernardino County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer’s Claim Against the County. Every time I do, I find something new. Like tonight I came across the email from Postmus to Biane calling Biane a POS. That was too funny.

Something else was pointed out to me today that got me reading the thing again. That was some more of the questions Mark Uffer suggested the Grand Jury ask Mark Kirk.

APPLE VALLEY • With the Apple Valley Fire Protection District looking to cut costs, one politically sensitive option being floated is the possibility of contracting with San Bernardino County for fire service, as every other Victor Valley city now does.

Apple Valley Councilman Rick Roelle, then sitting as mayor, spearheaded a push to look at turning the local fire department over to County Fire last April. Roelle cited concern with the district’s finances and how it might affect its ability to provide service to residents.

The effort to transform the former Norton Air Force Base into a commercial airport is a gamble of more than $200 million that may well determine if San Bernardino can rediscover prosperity. Success would mean domestic and international flights landing and taking off from San Bernardino International Airport. It would mean travelers spending money at local hotels and restaurants. It would mean a busy airport employing well-paid professionals like air traffic controllers and aircraft mechanics.

It would also result in the initials SBD becoming as well known to Southern California travelers as LAX, L.A./ONT or JWA.

Candidate Meg Whitman touts her experience at eBay, the online auction house that made her rich, but her career and personal fortune are entwined with another company: the Goldman Sachs investment bank, a major player in public finance in the state she wants to lead.

Whitman’s relationship with the giant Wall Street firm — as investor, corporate director and recipient of both insider stock deals and campaign donations — could pose conflicts of interest if the Republican front-runner is elected governor of California, critics say.

The Legislature, whose public standing in polls is rock-bottom, did it itself no favors when it approved a resolution calling for Californians to observe a “cuss-free week.”

The action predictably attracted wide public attention, but most of it probably reflected Republican Assemblyman Chris Norby’s comment: “With the state broke, I don’t know that this is what we should be spending time on.”

With last month’s passage of health care legislation, families and businesses across Inland Southern California and beyond are scrambling to determine how — and how soon — the overhaul will impact them.

Ultimately, the legislation will touch nearly every American. But its many provisions, to be rolled out gradually over the next several years, will affect people differently. Factors include age, health, employment status, family situation and income.